I Know a Man … Ashley Bryan is a story about a beloved 93-year-old artist who skips and jumps in his heart like a child, yet is a spiritually deep creative genius and poet/illustrator of 50+ children's books, maker of magical puppets and sea glass windows from found objects inspired by his African heritage. Ashley lives on the remote Cranberry Islands, Maine and has been using art his entire life to celebrate joy, mediate the darkness of war and racism, explore the mysteries of faith, and create loving community. His life story and the art he makes from this wellspring of experience is an inspiration to people of all ages.

The film opens with Ashley telling a group of awestruck children a hilarious rendition of the original tale from his new book Can't Scare Me. But soon after the film delves into the horrors Ashley experienced in war. “When you experience the tremendous carnage,” he asks, “Why does man choose war … that destroys everything you’ve built up? I lived through the time of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and that did it.” The film then explores his world as an African American experiencing racism from early on when his father “was given the mop and the broom”, a reference to the 1942 Gordon Parks photograph. He quotes Marian Anderson admonishing “to keep another down you have to hold them down, and therefore cannot rise and soar to the potential within you.” He takes comfort in and spreads beauty through the spiritual content of his art – his linocut prints exhorting “Let My People Go” and his breathtaking sea glass windows of the Evangelists Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. So we begin to see his art as his way of spreading love, joy and peace in a less than perfect world.

The film’s trailer https://vimeo.com/156470217 announces the coming of this feature documentary at festivals around the world. A half hour school version will soon be available for students and teachers. Funds for free distribution to schools and for educational support materials are being sought. Those interested please contact mainemasters1@gmail.com for further information.

Imber’s Left Hand is a love story between two artists faced with one’s death and how art and love transform the tragedy into the brightest affirmation of life. Imber’s switch to painting left handed and the black humor with which he dances with his dying is a celebration of life and community.

photo by Jill Hoy

Richard Kane filming Jon Imber’s first left-handed painting.

Coming Soon to FilmStruck (Turner Classic Movies)

Joseph Fiore: The Nature of the Artist

premiered at the Camden International Film Festival, September 29, 2013
Screened November 7-10, 2013 at the Asheville Cinema Festival, Asheville, NC
Screened December 14 and 15, 2013 at the Asheville Art Museum, Asheville, NC

Film Director Richard Kane, Artist David Driskell, and
Director of the
National Museum of African Art Johnetta Cole.

On April 20, 2013 Dr. David Driskell was introduced by the charismatic Dr. Johnetta Cole, director of the National Museum of African Art to an audience of nearly 400 people who came to the National Gallery of Art to watch the Washington, D.C. premiere of David Driskell: In Search of the Creative Truth.

Photography by Heide Fischer Wessels

Master Printmaker Curlee Holton joined David
Driskell and Richard Kane
for a Q&A with the audience.

Ashley Bryan: Maine Master in Production

Photograph by Henry Isaacs

Ashley Bryan and students at the Ashley Bryan School on Little Cranberry Isle.

Ashley Bryan introduced students of the Ashley Bryan School on Little Cranberry Isle to the galleys of his newest book, Can’t Scare Me. Looking on are teachers Donna Isaacs and Lindsay Eyesnogle with grip, Jacob Kane, director Richard Kane (at camera), and executive producer, Robert Shetterly (standing right). See footage in production here.

April 12, 2011 Boston Stephen Pace: Maine Master was nominated for an Emmy Award by the Boston/New England Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in the Outstanding Arts/Entertainment category. The film portrait premiered at the Sony Wonder Technology Lab in New York City in 2009 and was broadcast as part of the MPBN Community Films series in 2010.